We do not need to remind you that what’s the importance of Internet in nowadays. Almost every people getting connected with the globe using the Internet services. However, sometimes when you do not have access to internet may frustrate you a lot. Today, we will discuss a common error that may prevent you to access your favorite Web sites. People use various types of Web browser such as Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox to access the Internet. During access to Internet, you may get DNS related error such as DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN (as shown in the following figure) that prevents you to access few of the Internet websites (you might be able to access few web sites but not the all).

Solution: DNS_PROBE_FINISHED Error

Since there is no exact method, path, or steps to troubleshoot any network or system related issue. The same error may display by various issues. There are few tips and tricks that can help you to solve the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error. It may be possible that in your case one method may work and in the case of other person, second or third method may work.

Checking Proper Proxy Settings

Whenever, you get the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error, first of all try to ping the domain web site name, that you are trying to access. If you are able to ping successfully, check your your proxy server setting. Make sure you are using correct proxy server IP address. If your network environment does not use proxy, remove the proxy address from Internet Options.

To do so, open the Run dialog box, type inetcpl.cpl and press the Enter button.

On the Internet Options window, select the Connections tab and then click the LAN settings. In the Local Area Network (LAN) settings dialog box, validate your proxy server address.

If the above-mentioned method does not help you, try the second one.

Using Public DNS IP Addresses

Open the Network Adapter properties and change the DNS server IP addresses. To do so, type ncpa.cpl in the Run dialog box and press the Enter key.

Select and right-click your active network adapter and then select the TCP/IPv4 option. On the TCP/IPv4 Properties dialog box, use the following public DNS server IP addresses even if you are obtaining IP address settings from the DHCP server.

8.8.8.8

4.4.2.2

These both are well-known public DNS IP addresses that anyone can use if he/she does not know what DNS server IP addresses are being used. Now, try to access your favorite website. Hope it works for you, if not then continue with the below-mentioned method.

Resetting IP Address Settings

Open the Command Prompt window with the admin privileges and type the following commands to release and renew IP addresses. If you are using static IP address, skip this step.

c:\>ipconfig /release

c:\>ipconfig /release

Now, execute the following commands to flush the DNS entries, reset Winsock service, and restart the system.

C:\>ipconfig /flushdns

C:\>ipconfig /registerdns

C:\>netsh winsock reset

C:\>shutdown -r -t 00

Once you system is rebooted, try to open websites that you wanted. Hope, the above-mentioned tips and tricks helped you to solve DNS_PROBE_FINISHED error. If you have any further suggestion, please share with our readers that would be highly appreciable.

Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS) is a service that protects sensitive and intellectual documents of an organization from the unauthorized users. One of the major advantages of using AD RMS over other security features such as NTFS permission is that AD RMS permission travels along with the documents. Does not matter how and where you copy or move the documents. In this post, we will see how to install and configure AD RMS in Windows Server 2016.

In order to install and configure AD RMS in Windows Server 2016, you need to perform the following high-level steps:

Preparing AD RMS server.

Installing the AD RMS server role.

Creating an AD RMS Cluster.

Configuring the AD RMS templates.

Testing and verifying AD RMS Configuration.

Preparing AD RMS Server

For the successful AD RMS deployment, first, you need to make sure that you fulfill all the AD RMS prerequisites. For this, first, you need to perform the following steps:

On DC1, create a user named ADRMSSRVC that will be used as AD RMS service account.

Add this account in to the member list of the Domain Admins group. Refer the following figure.

Now, create the following Active Directory objects:

Create an OU named Sales and create Peter user under it.

Create one more OU named Finance and create Shawn user under it.

When you make the users, ensure that you also set the email addresses for the respective user accounts. For example, set [email protected] email account for Peter user and [email protected] for Shawn user. Refer the following figure.

Now, create a shared folder named Secret that will be used as Shared Distribution Point (SDP).

Right-click Secret and navigate to Share with Specific people to share this folder.

On the File Sharing dialog box, type Peter, and then click Add.

Set the permission level as Read/Write.

Using the same steps, also set the Read/Write permission for the ADRMSSRVC user account.

Installing AD RMS in Windows Server 2016

In order to install the Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS) role, you need to perform the following steps:

On DC1, using the Server Manager console, launch the Add Roles and Features Wizard.

On the AD RMS Cluster page, ensure that the Create a new AD RMS root cluster radio button is selected, and then click Next.

On the Configuration Database page, select the Use Windows Internal Database on this server option, and then click Next. Alternatively, you can also specify the SQL server database, if already configured.

On the Service Account page, click Specify to specify the ADRMS Service account that is mcsalab\adrmssrvc and click Next to proceed.

SCVMM 2012 R2 allows you to manage and control virtual machines running on the Hyper-V hosts. However, for this, you need to add Hyper-V hosts to SCVMM 2012 R2 Management server. Once you added the Hyper-V hosts to SCVMM Management server, you can create, delete, and manage virtual machines on the added hosts. We assume that you have already read the previous post in which we have explained step by step SCVMM 2012 R2 installation guide. In this post, we will continue to use the same VMM server to explain how to add a Hyper-V host to SCVMM 2012 R2 Management server. However, before proceeding to next, first, you need to ensure the following:

VMM Management server and Hyper-V host are properly connected to each other.

VMM Management Server and Hyper-V host are the members of the same domain.

The Windows Firewall is configured to allow communication between VMM management server and Hyper-V host. You may turn off the Windows Firewall for the testing purpose.

Adding Hyper-V Hosts to SCVMM 2012 R2

In order to add Hyper-V hosts to SCVMM management server, the following steps need to be followed:

Open the Virtual Machine Manager console on the VMM management server.

Note: Sometimes, you may get an error while opening the VMM console. To resolve this, you may need to reboot VMM management server. If the problem still exists, restart the Virtual Machine Manager service using the Services console.

In the VMs and Services section, scroll down and right-click the All Hosts option, and then select the Add Hyper-V Hosts and Clusters option.

On the Resource Location page of the Add Resource Wizard page, review all the available options that you can use. For the testing purpose, we will select the Windows Server computers in a trusted Active Directory domain option.

On the Credentials page, select the Manually enter the credentials option and specify domain administrator account details in DomainName\Administrator format and then click Next.

On the Discovery Scope page, select Specify Windows Server computers by names, type the IP address or computer name of the Hyper-V host that yu want to add and then click Next.

On the Target Resources page, select the Computer name check box in the Discovered computers section and then click Next.

On the Host Settings page, accept the default Host group (All Hosts) and then click Next. We will explain how to create and manage the host group in a separate article.

On the Summary page, click Finish to complete the task. Monitor the status of the Jobs window and close it once the Hyper-V host is added.

Now, you will see all the virtual machines, if any, of the added Hyper-V host. In the following figure, you can see that host1 is added in the Virtual Machine Connection console.

Now, you can manage the added Hyper-V hosts using the Virtual Machine Connection console.

In this article, we have explained a step by step guide “how to add Hyper-V hosts to SCVMM”. Hope, you loved it. If you get stuck anywhere, please drop your queries in the comment box.

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network that has been used for many years to provide remote connectivity and support. VPN is one of the most popular, secure, and cheap technique to connect remote branch offices and remote users over the Internet. There are various VPN authentication protocols such as PPTP, L2TP, SSTP, and IKEv2 that can be used by an administrator for authenticating remote users. Each VPN authentication protocol supports the different level of security. However, in this post, we will just focus on step by step guide to configure Remote Access VPN Server using Windows Server 2016.

Understanding Remote Access VPN Lab Setup

First of all, understand the lab setup topology we are going to use. Ensure that all the systems are configured with the appropriate TCP/IP settings as mentioned in the topology. Also, ensure that the Windows Firewall is turned off on all the systems to avoid any network connectivity issues.

We will use the following systems to complete this lab exercise:

ROUTER1

Hosts the Remote Access Server role.

Connected to CLIENT1 using 10.0.0.1/8 IP address.

Connected to the SERVER2 using 192.168.1.1/24 IP address.

Acts as VPN Server.

SERVER2

Acts as an internal (private) client and is connected to ROUTER1 using 192.168.1.2/24 IP address and 192.168.1.1 as the Default gateway.

CLIENT1

Acts as a remote (Public) client and is connected to ROUTER1 using 10.0.0.101/8 IP address and 10.0.0.1 as the Default gateway.

It is recommended that all of your participating systems of this lab exercise should belong either to the same Domain network or should belong to a Workgroup network. Mixed type of network may create some issues to complete the lab exercise. Here, all systems are based on the Workgroup-based network.

Installing Remote Access Service on Windows Server 2016

In order to configure VPN Server on Windows Server 2016, first, you need to install the Remote Access service role. For this, you need to perform the following steps:

On ROUTER1, launch the Add Roles and Features Wizard.

Click Next and accept the default selections until the Select server roles page displays.

Select the Remote Access server role and click Next.

Click Next until the Select role services page displays.

Select the DirectAccess and VPN (RAS) and Routing role services and then click Next.

On the rest of the pages, accept the default selections by clicking Next. Wait until the installation process completes.

Configure Remote Access VPN Server

In order to configure VPN Server on Windows Server 2016, you need to perform the following steps on ROUTER1.

Open the Routing and Remote Access console by using the Server Manager console.

Click Tools and selecting the Routing and Remote Access option.

Select and right-click Server name (ROUTER1) and then select Configure and Enable Routing and Remote Access.

On the Welcome page, click Next and navigate tothe Configuration page. Ensure that the Remote access (dial-up or VPN) option is selected and then click Next.

On the Remote Access page, select the VPN option and then click Next.

On the VPN Connections page, select the network adapter that is connected to the Public network (Internet) and proceed to next. In this case, Ethernet0 network adapter is connected to the Public system CLIENT1.

On the IP Address Assignment page, select the desired option. If your VPN server is also configured as active DHCP server, select Automatically. If you want to assign IP addresses to the VPN clients using the VPN server, select the From a specified range of addresses option and then click Next.

On the IP Address Assignment page, click New and set the Start and End IP ranges depending on the number of VPN clients your network contains. For example, set the 10.0.0.240 to 10.0.0.245 range for the testing purpose and proceed to Next.

On the Manage Multiple Remote Access Servers page, select the No option as we will configure RADIUS server in a separate article. Click Next and finish the wizard.

On the Service message box click OK to start the Remote Access service.

Creating VPN User

In order to connect and authenticate to Remote Access VPN server, VPN clients require user credentials. For this, you need to perform the following steps.

Execute the following command on VPN server ROUTER1 to create a test user named as VPNUser1. It will be used by remote users to connect to your VPN server.

Now, type lusrmgr.msc in the Run dialog box and open the Properties of VPNUser1.

Select the Dial-in tab and then select the Allow access option for the selected user.

Connecting VPN Client to VPN Server

Now, you have successfully configured Remote Access VPN server. The next step is to test your VPN configuration. For this, you need to perform the following steps on VPN client that is CLIENT1.

Move on to CLIENT1, open the Network and Sharing Center Wizard, and select Set up a new connection or network to create a new VPN connection.

Select the Connect to a workplace option and then click Next.

On the How do you connect to VPN page, select Use my Internet Connection (VPN) option and then click Next.

On the next page, select I’ll setup Internet connection later and then click Next.

On the Type the Internet address to connect to page, type hostname (if the DNS server is already configured) or simply type the Public IP address of VPN server. In this case, 10.0.0.1 and then click Create.

Click the network status icon in the Notification Area and select VPN Connection.

On the NETWORK & INTERNET screen, select VPN Connection and then click Connect.

On the Sign In screen, type the username and password of VPN server that you have previously created and click OK to connect.

Ensure that you are successfully connected to VPN server.

To further verify, type \\192.168.1.2\c$ to test that you are able to access the data of the Private client that is SERVER2.

Note: Use the Administrator user if you are unable to access SERVER2 using VPNUser1.

In this post, we have explained how to configure Remote Access VPN Server on Windows Server 2016. You are always welcome to provide your valuable suggestions and feedback. Please use the comment box to share your views. Stay connected with us for more step by step Windows Server 2016 tutorials.